Banana Nut Muffins

My little chef, Evie made banana nut muffins with me tonight.. she did a fantastic job measuring ingredients, cracking the eggs and mixing with batter. The only thing that she didn't do herself was spoon them into the pans.. (I wanted that done a little more neatly).



They are delicious! Here is the origional recipe from Tyler Florence of The Food Network.. But be sure to see my altered version of it below!

Banana Nut Muffins
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 7 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 12 muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 overripe bananas
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and lightly butter 2 muffin tins.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Mash 2 of the bananas with a fork in a small bowl so they still have a bit of texture. With an electric mixer fitted with a wire whisk, whip the remaining bananas and sugar together like you mean it, for a good 3 minutes. Add the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla and beat well, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Fold in the nuts and the mashed bananas with a rubber spatula. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins to fill them about halfway. Give them a rap on the counter to get any air bubbles out.

Bake until a toothpick stuck in the muffins comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes before turning the muffins out. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Now.. I like mine to be mini bite-sized muffins.. so I use a 24 mini muffin pan.. and I alter the recipe like so;
TINA'S Banana Nut Muffins
Banana Nut Muffins
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 7 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 72 mini muffins (sounds like alot but they go fast being bite sized)

3 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
6 or 7 overripe bananas
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
2 sticks melted but cooled butter
3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped pecans.. ( I didn't alter that amount because I didn't want too many pecans in a mini muffin)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and lightly butter 3 mini muffin tins. (I only have one 24 count muffin tin, so I clean it in between the 3 batches)
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Mash 3 of the bananas with a fork in a small bowl so they still have a bit of texture. With an electric mixer fitted with a wire whisk, whip the remaining bananas and sugar together for a good 3 minutes. Add the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla and beat well, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Fold in the nuts and the mashed bananas with a rubber spatula. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins to fill them about halfway.
Bake for 10 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the muffins comes out clean. Let cool for a few minutes before turning the muffins out. They are fantastic warm!


So you can choose whichever recipe you want based on what size and quantity of muffins you desire. Ours turned out fantastic! We have over half of them already eaten! LOL I also made these last week for Evie's school and they were gobbled down in a hurry! They are fast and easy to make!

And one more tip that my mother gave me... Anytime that you have leftover bananas on your counter that are going brown, smash them up in a zip lock bag and freeze them until you are going to make your banana bread or muffins..
I'll never be throwing overripe bananas anymore!

Mmmmmm... think I'll go get another one...